A Seattle anesthesiologist's license has been suspended as he faces accusations of sending nude "selfies" to a patient and "sexting" during surgeries.

According to the Washington State Department of Health, anesthesiologist Arthur Zilberstein "compromised patient safety due to his preoccupation with sexual matters while he was on hospital duty between at least April and August 2013."

The state Medical Quality Assurance Commission says Zilberstein repeatedly sent sexually explicit text messages during surgeries in which he was the responsible anesthesiologist. During one Aug. 6 surgery, Zilberstein exchanged 45 sexually related messages, according to the commission.

The commission also accuses him of improperly accessing images of patients for "sexual gratification," as well as having sexual encounters while at work. He also sent out a photo of himself wearing hospital scrubs with his genitals exposed, the commission alleges.

On top of the sexual accusations, the commission also said Zilberstein illegally prescribed drugs -- primarily Oxycodone -- to people at least 29 times without evaluating or diagnosing them. He's accused of having sex with one of those patients while at work.

Zilberstein is also accused of making racists remarks to one of his patients.

Swedish Medical Center, where Zilberstein worked, released a statement Monday addressing the accusations.

"The safety of our patients is our No. 1 priority," the statement reads. "Once we learned that the state had suspended this physician's medical license, the physician's medical staff membership and privileges were immediately suspended. We just recently learned of these allegations and are conducting our own internal review of the physician, who is not directly employed by Swedish."

Reached Monday evening at his Seattle home, Zilberstein offered little comment, but said, "I can't really talk right now. I appreciate you guys. I understand you want to hear."

Zilberstein's license to practice medicine has been suspended until the charges are resolved. He has 20 days to respond to the charges and request a hearing. It's unclear what legal action, if any, has been taken against the doctor.